Tsk, Tsk, Tutu

Hyperbole is a valid and useful form of expressing one's ideas and opinions forcefully, but, taken to the extreme discredits the one that indulges in it. This is what has happened to Desmond Tutu in his tirade against the South African government for refusing to issue a visa to the Dalai Lama, a friend of his invited to the bishop's 80th birthday celebration. Even if he's right in criticizing the government for this decision, comparing it to apartheid is clearly an outrageous exaggeration without any rational basis. Tutu has done himself a disservice by throwing this public tantrum and using an inappropriate analogy in the country that suffered so much under that system.

I think the time has come for the bishop to take a vow of silence.

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